No one is illegal -asylum and immigration control past and present Steve Cohen, Trentham Books £17.99 The Use and Abuse of Political Asylum in Britain and Germany Liza Schuster, Frank Cass £18.50 Reviewed by Terry Conway
hese two books have both recently
activists in the anti-racist movement opposed to immigration controls. They are both valuable for those involved in defence of asylum seekers and migrants and each raise a number of thought provoking questions. That is where the similarities end.
Steve Cohen's book is mainly comprised of a collection of essays written for other publications sandwiched between an introduction and conclusion written especially for the book.
This does have some weaknesses, especially given the fact that the period during which the book was written was one in which an awful lot happened with regard to immigration law and practice.
It repeats themes familiar to readers of his previous works: most notably the use of immigration controls against Jews at the turn of the 20th century and the use of internal controls which made the welfare state an integral part of the immigration service in the 1990s.
He combines this with new and less familiar material, including a fascinating chapter on anti-communism and immigration control and several pieces on the US to make a thought-provoking read.
As Cohen himself says on a number of organise within them. mobilise around this. nent, has historically been to act as an advojunior partner of the state."
www.reborte occasions in the book, several chapters were written as polemics against the complicity with these measures of the voluntary and public sector and the trade unions that than the public sector.
That in itself is fair enough, though Cohen doesn't make any concrete proposals as to how activists can challenge this. Given that these measures were introduced at a time when the level of trade union struggles was exceedingly low, it was very difficult to
In addition, the concentration on polemic gives a somewhat distorted view of reality. For example, the chapter on the voluntary sector argues that "the role of the voluntary what you are going to get. sector, or at least in its advice-giving compocate against state authority. Now there is a situation where the sector has become a
The reality is that the voluntary sector has fascinating. never been homogenous in the way Cohen implies here - it has involved campaigning organisations that are accountable to those that use their services together with paternalistic groups that provide services cheaper Afghan refugees in a desolate Salford
But such weaknesses do not in the end take away from the importance of this book, which is an accessible and fascinating expose of the history of immigration controls in Britain over 100 years.
iza Schuster's book is much harder to get into. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I didn't know and respect the author - not least because I don't think the title gives you any idea of
Then the first chapter is hard going for anyone who isn't a recent sociology graduate, packed as it is with interminable references to other works on similar subjects. But it is worth persevering. What follows is
The central argument of the book is that while racism is integral to the construction of nation states, granting the right of asylum to some of those who seek it has been used to bolster the liberal credentials of states - them! while at the same time denying any rights to economic migrants.
This is graphically illustrated with reference to German history. The West German state at its formation was obviously keen to show itself as distinct from its Nazi predecessors and used a liberal asylum policy as a way of doing so, whereas 50 years on a much richer state has seriously undercut those rights.
I hankered for more detail in the centra chapters of comparative study between Britain and Germany - especially on the latter about which I know less.
I was also disappointed that the final argu ment, for a radical revolutionary approach to immigration policy was not argued at greater length.
Both these books are important pieces of ammunition for the assault the left needs to mount against the iniquities of immigration policy at home and across the world. If you can't afford them, get your library to order